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- Radler case sparks call to review law
- Feds won’t review $4B Nortel patent sale
- Deal on emissions from new ships to save $5bn a year
- India-U.S. focus on maritime security
- The rule of law still rules women out
- Citizenship fraud cleanup ‘about time’
- China Regulator Says Yuan Gains Won’t Lead to Losses
- Italy and the Euro on the edge
- Investment ministry to create Diaspora fund, targets $18.6bn
- Venture-capital investments in state lowest since 2009
| Radler case sparks call to review law Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:55 AM PDT New Zealand Herald – Confirmation by the Intellectual Property Office of DB Breweries’ registration of “radler” as a New Zealand trademark has spurred calls for an urgent review of appeal mechanisms. A group of beer drinkers had opposed the 2003 registration by the Asia Pacific Breweries unit, saying the term is generic for a type of light beer, and Geoff Griggs, president of the Society of Beer Advocates (Soba), said the office should have done more research to learn “radler” was a term that dates back to the 1920s. DB’s general manager marketing Clare Morgan has said the big company did not fight the case to prevent competition or restrict consumers’ access to different types of beer products, But intellectual property consultant Theodore Doucas in Wellington, said the decision in favour of DB Breweries – on the grounds radler was not known as a descriptive term in New Zealand in 2004 – was out of touch with reality. Doucas said radler was a generic term for a style of low-alcohol beer, such as “lager” and “pilsner”. The appeal was brought in 2009 by Soba after beer giant DB Breweries acted against Green Man Organic Brewery for breaching its trademark in the use of the name “radler”. DB Breweries trademarked the name in 2004 after the launch of its Monteith’s Radler. “Radler is a style of beer and a common term all over the world,” said Doucas. “It seems to the average person that unless you have massively deep pockets in New Zealand, there is no way to challenge this type of injustice. In Australia there is provision for the Registrar of Trade Marks to intervene where it is clearly in the public interest – we should have the same here in New Zealand,” Doucas said. The real test of distinctiveness for a trademark was not whether a mark is being used in New Zealand but the likelihood of use in New Zealand. “You cannot give somebody a monopoly like this and then think it’s good for business,” he said. “This is bad for New Zealand, bad for business and bad for the consumer because it stifles competition.” |
| Feds won’t review $4B Nortel patent sale Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:53 AM PDT CTA – The US$4.5-billion sale of Nortel’s patent portfolio to a consortium including Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) cleared another hurdle Tuesday as Ottawa said the deal does not need to be reviewed under the Investment Canada Act. Industry Minister Christian Paradis said that, based on the accounting value of the portfolio, the sale would not be reviewed because it does not meet the $312-million threshold requirement. “Investment review officials have examined the applicable rules and threshold values under the Investment Canada Act as they apply to Rockstar Bidco LP’s proposed acquisition of Nortel’s patents,” Paradis said in statement. “Based on the information provided by the investor and Nortel’s 2010 audited financial statements, the acquisition of the Nortel patents is not subject to review for net benefit under the act.” Paradis had asked officials earlier this month to see if the sale, which includes more than 6,000 patents, should be scrutinized under the Investment Canada Act. The legislation requires foreign accusations of Canadian companies valued at more than $312 million to be a “net benefit” to the country. In addition to RIM, the Rockstar Bidco LP consortium includes Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft and Sony. The group beat out Google and others for the more than 6,000 patents, which include technology that is expected to be the backbone of wireless networks for the next decade. Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM’s share amounted to $770 million or 17 per cent of the total purchase price; however the ownership structure of the patents within the consortium has not been disclosed. Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and has been selling off its operations bit by bit since then. The patent sale, which was approved last week by courts in the U.S. and Canada overseeing the process, was the last major technology asset Nortel had left to sell as it wound up its operations. Nortel has held several auctions for its various divisions and assets that have required a review under the Investment Canada Act. In 2009, then-industry minister Tony Clement signed off on Nortel’s sale of its Metro Ethernet Networks division to U.S.-based Ciena Corp. for $769 million. The government also approved the sale of Nortel’s enterprise solutions business to Avaya Inc. for $900 million. |
| Deal on emissions from new ships to save $5bn a year Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:50 AM PDT EAEM – The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has agreed to force energy efficiency design standards on new ships from 2013, but has made no move on carbon trading, or on taxing the heavily-polluting bunker fuels used by most ships, and the agreement has no CO2 emissions reduction targets. Globally, the IMO claims that shipping accounts for around 3.3% of global carbon emissions, but in 2007 a BP estimate put the figure at more like 600 – 800 million tonnes a year – 5% of global greenhouse gases, and twice that from aviation. Neither are covered by the Kyoto Protocol. The IMO says that without the deal shipping emissions would grow by 150 – 250% by 2050. Under the deal, brokered after years of debate last Friday, each new vessel over 400 gross tonnes ordered from 1 January 2013, would require a survey of fuel efficiency and have an International Energy Efficiency Certificate issued. Ships built between 2015 and 2019 will need to improve their efficiency by 10%, rising to 20% between 2020 and 2024 and 30% for those delivered after 2024. Forty-eight countries voted in favour of adopting a mandatory Energy-Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships and a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships, at a meeting of the IMO’s marine environment protection committee in London on Friday. Five voted against and 12 abstained. The measures are now enshrined in Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention covering air pollution from ships and are binding on all 180 member states of IMO. The EEDI will first apply to the largest and most energy-intensive ships – by setting baseline EEDI reference lines tankers, gas tankers, bulk carriers, containerships, general cargo vessels, refrigerated cargo carriers and combination carriers. Other versions of the EEDI will be developed to cover remaining ship types which carry cargo. Ships can be made more efficient by reducing engine size, as long as safety isn’t compromised, by improving the hull, propeller and propulsion system, using waste heat recovery, air lubrication and wind power – sails, kites and flettner rotors. Developing countries opt-out In a dispute between developed and developing countries mirroring that over emissions cuts in UN climate talks, a group of developing countries led by China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa secured a waiver meaning that they won’t have to implement the standards until 2017 or even 2019. They want developed countries to provide capacity building to enable developing countries to comply with any new standard. This makes it likely that more ships will be built in their yards until 2019 to get round the rules. European shipbuilders, for example, could build and register a ship in a developing country without having to comply with the new regulation for some time. Observers say that all this means that the measure is eventually expected to slow rather than reduce the growth of maritime CO2 pollution. “Adopting the EEDI is the right step but the long delay weakens its short to medium term impact significantly. If the IMO does not deliver action quickly now on existing ships, it will be up to the EU to take the lead at a regional level,” said Bill Hemmings, director of Brussels-based non-governmental organisation Transport & Environment. EU may pursue further action The IMO only acted under a threat that if it failed to, then the European Parliament would have asked the Commission to institute its own legislation. But many issues remain unresolved. Brussels still wants to see a bunker fuel levy, emissions trading, or both applied to shipping. Connie Hedegaard, the European climate commissioner, welcomed the IMO decision as "a very positive and important first step for a truly global, binding measure to reduce CO2 emissions”. Her spokesman said she is still “looking at the options,” for further action, adding, “bringing shipping into the ETS is only one of them”. Tackling emissions from existing ships The deal was welcomed by Peter Boyd, COO of Carbon War Room (CWR), an NGO that seeks to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions through market means, who called it “a historic move” but said “there's a bigger environmental and economic opportunity out there that's too good to miss". Eight months ago CWR launched shippingefficiency.org, which made energy efficiency ratings for the 60,000-strong ocean-going fleet freely available for the first time, using methodology developed by the IMO itself. CWR argues that $70 billion of fuel savings are possible from more efficient vessels. The EEDI should result in fuel savings of $5 billion annually by 2020 (and CO2 reductions of over 20 million tons). And if the new standards were applied to all existing ships too, it would save the industry more than 220m tons of CO2 and $50 billion a year. Under the new Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP), new and existing ships will have to keep on board a ship-specific energy use management plan during operation, which sets out best practices for the fuel efficient operation of ships, but it’s up to operators whether they use the Ship Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI), which will let them measure the fuel efficiency of a ship in grams of CO2 per tonne mile. Therefore Carbon War Room will this week deliver a letter to IMO delegates calling for use of the EEOI to be made mandatory. It will be signed by 50 organizations, including owner-operators of 60 million tons-worth of vessels. Signatories include Denmark's Maersk Line (containers) and TORM, Canada's Teekay, America's Heidmar (tankers) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (ro-ro) of Norway/Sweden. German consumer electronics company Schneider Electric has also signed, along with the Port of Los Angeles and the NGO Forum for the Future. |
| India-U.S. focus on maritime security Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:45 AM PDT The Hindu – India and the United States on Tuesday welcomed the progress in bilateral defence cooperation underscoring the engagement in maritime security with Washington welcoming New Delhi’s decision to chair a plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia next year. In her opening remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned that maritime security was an area of major concern, as both countries sought to protect sea lanes, combat piracy and defend freedom of navigation. This also found reflection in the joint statement with both sides noting the importance of maritime security and agreeing to continue consultations on the issue with regard to the Indian Ocean region in existing fora, such as Defence Policy Group and its appropriate sub-groups. This sector stands codified in the 2006 Indo-U.S. Framework for Maritime Security Cooperation and since then both countries have cooperated towards addressing Somalia-based piracy, disaster relief, illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction and enhancing maritime domain awareness. The Group, which met in Washington earlier this year, is now scheduled to hold another meeting next year. At the end of the second round of bilateral strategic dialogue, both sides noted that India had procured defence equipment worth $8 billion (approx Rs. 37500 crore) over the last decade. India and the United States noted in the joint statement "that these sales reflect strengthened cooperation" and affirmed their desire to strengthen cooperation through technology transfer, and joint research, development, and production of defence items. Earlier this year, the United States had removed four Indian organisations, including the Defence Research Development Organisation, from the list of entities to which sale of high technology items was not permitted. On defence technologies, Ms. Clinton said the U.S. expected to continue developing and selling the world’s most competitive products. "We view these sales as [not only] important on their own terms, but also as a means to facilitate the work that the Indian and American militaries can do together — whether patrolling the seas or providing relief to the victims of natural disasters," she said. |
| The rule of law still rules women out Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:43 AM PDT Khaleej Times – The MENA region has witnessed radical changes since December last year, which resulted in toppling two of dictators. These popular uprisings were not only unprecedented but also had a snowball effect which has now swept most Arab countries and mobilised more women demanding change. Tahani El-Gebali, Egypt's first female high court judge said in a teleconference on Thursday after a UN Women's report was released two days ago, that women in Egypt were instrumental in bringing about a regime change, the current transitional period is bringing opportunities for change, there are nevertheless a number of concrete challenges, notably in relation to women's participation in the emerging states as well as the increasing role and visibility of conservative religious groups. "In this particularly important moment in history, the reform of national constitutions presents one such challenge. The key issue at this stage is to ensure that the current constitutional reforms practice equality between women and men and non-discrimination in both the private and the public sphere. In addition, the shape, nature and legitimacy of women's public and political participation remains a work in process," she said. recognises the positive progress made — 139 countries and territories now guarantee gender equality in their constitutions, for example — but also shows that too often, women continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality in their home and working lives. Moez Doraid, director of the co-ordination division at UN said that in the MENA region, said that the right laws could change society and help achieve women's rights. While women do not enjoy fully equal citizenship or nationality rights in any country in the region, since 2002, Egypt, Libya and Morocco have introduced reforms to give women greater rights to transmit citizenship to children, while Algeria, Iraq, Qatar and Tunisia have taken steps to amend laws that discriminate against women in relation to passing citizenship to both children and spouses. Four countries — Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia — outlaw sexual harassment in the workplace, protecting women's rights in this sphere. However, women's labour force participation is 26 per cent, around a third of that of men. In most countries in the region, women are restricted from working the same hours or in the same jobs as men, limiting their opportunities. In decision-making and politics, the UAE has the highest number of women holding key positions and along with Tunisia is second when it comes to women representation in the parliament. The UAE is ranked third globally where 53 per cent of working-age women had jobs compared with 78 per cent of men. When it comes to maternity leave (45 days), Bahrain and UAE were ranked third from the bottom. "Women have been at the forefront of the Arab Spring campaigns for democracy, demanding a say in how their countries' futures are shaped. In Tunisia, women's rights activists have secured a commitment that the new parliament will include a 50:50 quota for women's representation," said Doraid. Three countries in the region now have laws that prohibit domestic violence — Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia outlaw sexual harassment in the workplace, but no countries explicitly outlaw marital rape. Globally, data from 39 countries show that where women are present in the police, reporting of sexual assault increases. But, on average only 2 per cent of police officers in the region are women. With regards to the driving ban in Saudi Arabia and women defying it, he said that being the only country in the world which denies women from driving, considering that Saudi women had reserved this all along was "a serious manipulation of gender inequality." |
| Citizenship fraud cleanup ‘about time’ Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:37 AM PDT London Free Press – The federal government’s clean sweep of revoking the citizenship status of 1,800 people should be swift, a Toronto immigration lawyer says. The massive investigation, unprecedented in its scale, involved the RCMP and the federal department of citizenship and immigration. The targeted people can appeal the revocation in federal court, but that could take up to three years, and in the mean time, they still have access to things such as education and health care. “Everyone knows our courts are very backlogged,” lawyer Guidy Mamann said Tuesday night. “So 1,800 number is an enormous amount. There’s no way of overstating that. It’s about time and we know there’s a lot of citizenship fraud going on. It sets a pattern on how (these people will) behave here forever.” News of the 1,800 who are about to have their citizenship stripped reminded Mamann, who has 24 years of experience under his belt, of the Palestine House, a Mississauga cultural centre where last year, the RCMP found 300 people claiming to live at this address. “I have a feeling this investigation is a part of that,” he said. “They used the Palestine House as an address so it looked like they were living in Canada, but in fact they were never living in Canada. Of those 1,800, I suspect dozens if not hundreds will be associated with that investigation.” No One is Illegal, an activist group that fights for migrants to live with dignity and respect, called the move to strip the 1,800 of Canadian citizenship “unprecedented.” “This is part of the Conservative government’s ongoing attack on immigrants,” said the group’s spokesman Mohan Mishra. “First they throw refugees in jail, now they’re tearing apart families that have been living and working in this country for years.” In the west, the Calgary Catholic Immigrant Society’s executive director, Fariborz Birjandian, says the move by the federal government involves a surprisingly large number, but he feels it is within reason. “The legal system is built in a way that they can’t just do that if they didn’t have a reason … I’m sure that they had some good reason,” he said. “I’m very confident they’re not just coming in to ship people out. “It’s an area that we know a lot of fraud is going on (and) the integrity of the process has to be maintained and preserved.” Birjandian would, however, like to see some sort of explanation from the government as this process moves forward. “I think people have to understand,” he said. |
| China Regulator Says Yuan Gains Won’t Lead to Losses Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:34 AM PDT Bloomberg – China’s foreign-exchange regulator said yuan appreciation won't lead to losses on the country's record currency reserves. The agency, which manages the country's $3.2 trillion of foreign currency holdings, also called on the U.S. to take action to boost market confidence and protect the interests of investors in its debt. The comments were made in a statement on the website of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange today discussing its management of the reserves. The yuan hit a 17-year high today as the central bank set a record reference rate before the sixth anniversary of the scrapping of a peg to the U.S. dollar. The Obama administration in May declined to brand China a currency manipulator while saying the world's fastest-growing economy is making "insufficient" progress on letting the yuan rise. "China is maybe increasingly worried about its investments in U.S. and European debt given uncertainty in the market," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong. "Its calls may help the U.S. and Europe muster political will to put their fiscal houses in order." SAFE gave its comments today in a release titled "Questions and Answers to Hot Issues Concerning Foreign- Exchange Reserves." The agency, which said it will issue its views in three parts, published a similar series of statements in July last year. The regulator said it noted views expressed by Standard & Poor's and other ratings companies about U.S. sovereign debt. "We hope the U.S. government takes concrete and responsible policy measures to strengthen the confidence of international financial markets, and respect and safeguard investors' interest," according to the statement. SAFE reiterated comments it made last year that a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar won't "directly" cause losses to its foreign-exchange reserves. "The changes in the yuan's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar causes changes in the paper value of the reserves when valued in yuan," according to the statement. "This is not a real loss and will not affect the real overseas purchasing power of the foreign-exchange reserves." |
| Italy and the Euro on the edge Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:32 AM PDT The Economist – By engulfing Italy, the euro crisis has entered a perilous new phase—with the single currency itself now at risk. For more than a year the euro zone's debt drama has lurched from one nail-biting scene to another. First Greece took centre stage; then Ireland; then Portugal; then Greece again. Each time European policymakers reacted similarly: with denial and dithering, followed at the eleventh hour with a half-baked rescue plan to buy time. This week the shortcomings of this muddling-through were laid bare (see article). Financial markets turned on Italy, the euro zone's third-biggest economy, with alarming speed. Yields on ten-year Italian bonds jumped by almost a percentage point in two trading days: on July 12th they breached 6%, their highest since the euro was created. The Milan stockmarket slumped to its lowest in two years. Though bond yields subsequently fell back, the debt crisis has clearly entered a new phase. No longer confined to the small peripheral economies of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, it has hurdled over Spain, supposedly next in line, and reached one of the euro zone's giants. All its members, but especially Germany, face a stark choice. Consider the stakes. Italy has the biggest sovereign-debt market in Europe and the third-biggest in the world. It has €1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) of sovereign debt outstanding, 120% of its GDP, three times as much as Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined—and far more than the €250 billion or so left in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the currency club's rescue kitty. Default would have calamitous consequences for the euro and the world economy. Even if the more likely immediate prospect is sustained stress in the Italian bond market, that will surely prompt investors to flee European assets, making the continent's recovery ever harder. Meanwhile in the background there is the absurd pantomime of Barack Obama and congressional Republicans feuding over how to raise the federal government's debt ceiling to stave off an American "default" (see article). That may have distracted American investors briefly; once they realise how much is at stake in Italy, it will not help. From Rome to Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin The proximate cause of this week's scare lies in Italian politics, and a row in which Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, hurled playground insults at Giulio Tremonti, the finance minister, over a new austerity budget. Add in the underlying concerns about the Italian economy's feeble growth rate, and investors are understandably worried about the Italian government's ability to shoulder its huge debt. In theory, these concerns should be easy for a grown-up government to address. After all, Italy, for all its faults, is not a big Greece. Its debt burden has been high but stable for years. Its primary budget (ie, before interest payments) is in surplus. It has a record of cutting spending and raising taxes if it needs to do so: in 1997, when it was trying to get into the euro, its primary surplus was 6% of GDP. By European standards its banks are decently capitalised. High private saving means that much sovereign borrowing is funded at home. In practice, though, there is seldom a clear line between illiquidity and insolvency: if the price Italy must pay to borrow rises high enough for long enough, its debt will eventually spiral out of control. And Italy's prospects are being overwhelmed by the contradictions and uncertainties in Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin, where respectively the Eurocrats, the European Central Bank (ECB) and Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, have all vainly tried to follow two contradictory goals—namely, avoiding any formal default on Greek debt, while also avoiding an open-ended transfer from richer European countries to the insolvent periphery (see article). To be fair to Mrs Merkel and Europe's other leaders, they have not chosen to muddle through merely out of cowardice, though there has been plenty of that, but because the euro-zone countries are profoundly divided. They cannot agree on who should bear the cost of today's crisis: should it be creditors (through a write-down), debtors (through austerity) or the Germans (through transfers to the south)? And they have not decided whether the long-term answer is a fiscal union, or not. Investors are thus unclear about how badly they may be hit. With Europeans in such a muddle over little Greece, no wonder investors are so terrified by big Italy. Cometh the hour, cometh the Eurobond What is to be done? This newspaper has long argued that muddling-through must be replaced by a comprehensive strategy based on three components: debt reduction for plainly insolvent countries; a recapitalisation of the European banks that will suffer from that restructuring; and the building of a firewall between the insolvent and the rest. Debt reduction must begin with Greece, the country that is most obviously bust. However the restructuring is pitched, Greece will be in default, so a plan to recapitalise banks hit badly by this, starting with Greece's own, will be needed too. The results of stress tests, due on July 15th, should show how much more help is required. There may have to be a similar restructuring for Portugal and Ireland. The task of building a firewall around the solvent core, including Spain and Italy, has to be shared between the countries at risk and the euro zone as a whole. Italy needs to pass its budget speedily—and also push through long overdue structural reforms. Its challenges are not only, or even mainly, about fiscal austerity, but about making the economy grow. As for the euro zone, short-term help may have to come from the ECB buying Italian bonds (difficult politically because the next head of the ECB will be Mario Draghi, the boss of Italy's central bank). Soon though the euro zone may well have to expand the EFSF and allow it to issue jointly guaranteed "Eurobonds". That is a huge political leap—especially for Mrs Merkel. Germany is firmly opposed to any solution that could imply open-ended transfers to feckless southerners; so are several other northern European countries, not least because guaranteeing others may raise their own borrowing costs. It is not a pleasant option. But the alternative could be the end of the euro. That is the horrible lesson of this week. |
| Investment ministry to create Diaspora fund, targets $18.6bn Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:11 AM PDT Vanguard – The Ministry of Trade and Investment is planning to float a Diaspora Fund as part of strategies aimed at unlocking available capital for investment in critical sectors of the economy. Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, who disclosed this at a press briefing to unveil the activities of the ministry in Lagos, yesterday, said the ministry had been expanded, refocussed and re-branded so that it could play its proper role of driving the nation's economy. He said the ministry was structuring the Nigeria in Diaspora fund to target the well over $20 billion in the hands of Nigerians abroad to invest in the country. He disclosed that by World Bank record, close to $18.6 billion was remitted by Nigerians in Diaspora into the country, adding that the Diaspora Fund will be inaugurated in September this year "after all the approvals are in place." Giving further insights into the strategies to be adopted by the ministry to fast track investment flows into the country Aganga noted that the ministry would focus on investments, sources of funds and the creation of a conducive investment climate for industrial growth, adding that there was enough capital within and outside the country to drive the required double-digit growth that would lead Nigeria becoming one of the leading 20 economies in the world by 2020. He said, "We have so many Nigerians in the Diaspora. The economies of many countries were built based on investments from people living abroad. We are in the process of structuring a fund, which we hope to put in place sometime in September when all the approvals are in place. That fund will be targeting those Nigerians in the Diaspora. "They will come in, bring their money and invest. According to the World Bank, in 2009, about $18.6billion was remitted to this country by Nigerians in the Diaspora. If we take half of that, and channel it the right way into the country, we will have enough capital to invest in this country. That is just focusing only on what you already have." He disclosed that the ministry was working with key stakeholders to create a conducive environment for investment in the country, adding that the laws and policies guiding investments must be investor-friendly. "We have commenced a review of all the laws and policies. However, most of our laws are friendly, just that investors are not even aware of these laws and policies. We want to make sure that we do not just review them but that we also have them in a form that is easily accessible to both local and international investors," the minister noted. He pointed out that the ministry would also operationalise the Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was created partly because of investments. He added that the N2trillion pension fund was also "sticky, long-term money" that should be unlocked for investment in key sectors, especially infrastructure. He said, "We will also be looking at pension funds. We are sitting on about N2trillion. Of course, you have to make sure that the assets are safe and that the money is available to pay back pensioners in the future, but in many countries, one of the reasons they have such funds is to be able to put it back in the economy. We have been very cautious about that in the past and that was the right thing to do. But perhaps the time has come for us to say, how can we unlock it in a safe way, in a responsible way, such that it will still be available in the future to pay back pensioners? "Pension funds all over the world are the biggest investors. If you go to the United States, the United Kingdom, most parts of the world, it is the same. And it is sticky money, long-term money. In this country, we're looking for sticky, long-term money. Since we are looking at investing in infrastructure, it means we are looking for long-term money. And pension fund is sticky and long-term. So, we must find a way of unlocking that." On the area of trade, Aganga said that the ministry would focus on trade imbalance between Nigeria and other countries. "We will reactivate our export and free trade zones. We have many of them but they are not working the way they should. We will also be developing a healthy, strong small and medium enterprise sector and make sure that they have all what they require to make them succeed," he noted. He said a team of experts would be raised to restructure the ministry and professionalise it "with a view to making the various departments efficient and effective. The committee should determine capacity gaps in each of the departments and recommend how these gaps can be filled." He said that the ministry will activate the various export free zones in the country and create industrial clusters for SME to operate in a more cost effective manner. He said that the Government is working with the Lagos Business School to develop SME through the 23 enterprise centers in the country. |
| Venture-capital investments in state lowest since 2009 Posted: 20 Jul 2011 02:07 AM PDT The Seattle Times – Venture-capital investments were up nationwide during the second quarter, but not in Washington state, which saw its lowest levels since recession-plagued early 2009. During the second quarter, the state’s total dollar amount — $122.3 million — decreased by nearly 21 percent, or about $32 million, compared with the same quarter last year. The number of deals also fell year-over-year from 37 to 27, according to the quarterly MoneyTree Report released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) with data from Thomson Reuters. The quarter’s drop follows a 36.8 percent decline of about $67 million in the first quarter of the year, signaling that the recovery may be sluggish for entrepreneurs in Washington. But some local VCs say the statistical backslide may be misleading. Greg Gottesman, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, said the numbers often are skewed because they are driven by large deals with later-stage companies. Companies in later stages have widely available products or services and are more likely to be profitable, attracting higher investments from VCs. “The real health for the long-term is to ask whether we are having a significant number of new company formations,” Gottesman said. “And my sense is that we still are.” Nationally, early-stage investment accounted for just over $2 billion of the country’s $7.5 billion in investment. But in Washington, more than half of the total — about $65 million — went to these companies. Early-stage companies are those that have been in business less than three years. Compared with the previous year, investment in startup companies rose by about $1 million. Charles Porter, angel investor and professor of new-venture creation at Seattle University, said the Pacific Northwest has a greater supply of young companies than other areas in the U.S. like Austin, Texas, and the Boston corridor, which Porter said have a high number of startups as well. “Look at the technology community we have here — Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Facebook — they’re spinning off a lot of people who start these companies,” he said. And though startups haven’t exactly been a source of mass job creation in the economy, Porter said he expects newer companies receiving investment to grow their employee head count this year. According to a 2010 report released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, an entrepreneur research and education organization, one-year-old firms create nearly 1 million jobs a year, while 10-year-old firms produce only about 300,000. The report said job creation at startups has remained stable during the past few years. John Taylor, head of research at the NVCA, said the uptick in early-stage investment is a result of VCs looking for the next generation of companies. “It’s a function of what is in the pipeline,” he said, adding that many VCs invest based on sectors of the market. In Seattle, sectors that brought in the most VC money were media and entertainment, with $47.6 million; software, with $24.5 million; and networking and equipment, with $14 million. Bill McAleer, managing director at Voyager Capital in Seattle, said companies engaged in mobile-media technology — social gaming, cloud-type technologies, new online-software programs, etc. — are hot right now. Those opportunities, though, require caution, he said. “You probably wouldn’t want to do the eighth social-media deal in a space. You want to be in there with the first or second company who already has a large market share,” McAleer said, noting that hype around social media may be causing a spike in valuation. “There’s just a lot of them out there. It’s over funded.” On a national scale, investment in Internet-specific companies surged in the second quarter, with $2.3 billion going into 275 companies. The second quarter marks the most dollars going into Internet-specific companies in a decade, since the second quarter of 2001. Madrona’s Gottesman said creating a healthy climate for young businesses is critical regardless of what sector they’re classified in. “New companies grow into middle stages and ultimately into Amazon and Microsoft and big companies,” Gottesman said. “They’re fundamental for our recovery because that’s ultimately where jobs will come from.” |
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